2001 June

Archive for June, 2001

Troll Lord Games has announced an agreement with D&D co-founder Rob Kuntz to publish a series of hardcover D20 sourcebooks. Called Myths & Legends, the series will present detailed information on a specific culture’s mythos in each book. The first sourcebook will be Codex Germania: Northern Gods, Heroes, and Monsters, a 200+ page book detailing the Norse Mythos. When the book arrives this December, Rune players may want to take a look.

This October, Atlas Games has a surprise in store for Feng Shui fans. Burning Shaolin, an adventure being written by Robin Laws, will include D20 stats alongside the usual Secret War details. Yep, you’ll be able to play the module with either a 6th-8th level D20 group, or beginning Feng Shui characters. New D20 rules for “Faceless Horde” combat and wuxia maneuvers will bring Kung Fu style to the table. Burning Shaolin marks the beginning of the Coriolis line, a series of dual-system RPG products. Could an Ars Magica/D20 adventure be next? Ah, I do so love to see the peaceful blending of RPG systems. There’s no need to fight when we can make games for two systems at once. We are the world…we are the gamers…

Nightmares & Dreams Walk the EarthMystic Eye’s hardcover creature book, Nightmares & Dreams(which we’ve been hearing about for months), is finally in stores. Don your best armor and go subdue one for yourself.

Wizards has posted a new fast-play adventure to compliment the Star Wars: Invasion of Theed Adventure Game. The free .pdf module, Smugglers of Naboo, just goes to show how wonderful the internet can be. When even an introductory RPG gets online freebies, it warms my dice-filled heart.

According to Kevin Barrett, Lead Game Designer for WizKids, The Venomous Shadow Dragon will not be like its fiery cousin. It still has a scaleable point cost, but the Shadow Dragon caters to other capacities and brings a new special ability to the table.

Like the first dragon figure, the Venomous Shadow Dragon will be on a six inch base with four combat dials, one for each facing. The figure will go for $24.95.

Those who attend this year’s Origins are sure to see many new publishers entering the field of battle. One such company will be Vengeance Games, producers of supplements like the Friday Night Six Pack. The Six Pack will contain six pregenerated characters, fully illustrated and at three different experience levels. Look for Vengeance to be lurking at the Agents of Gaming booth.

Two major Necromancer Games releases will hit gamers at GenCon 2001. Firstly, the next section of the legendary dungeon is presented in Rapan Athuk: The Middle Levels (they’ve already posted a preview of the cover art). Secondly, the first Necromancer module from D&D co-founder Rob Kuntz, Prisoners of the Maze will kick off the Maze of Zayene series. Reportedly, Rob will be at the Necromancer booth to sign copies of his module, so avoid the lines and get there early.

Another episode of the heart-wrenching drama, Roleplaying Tips Weekly, has unfolded for your viewing pleasure. Go there now and see if Keith will come out of his coma, if Teri’s baby can be saved from the kidnappers, and the tips for creating NPC voices.

Those who follow Mage Knight found out last week that WizKids will be retiring the Rebellion line of Mage Knight figures, and this past week’s shipment will be the last. So, for the rest of you, if your local game store seems crowded and insane on Monday, that’s why. This development makes me wonder if WizKids has learned anything at all from history, but maybe they’ve actually learned better than I have. Whether they survive when MK players get tired of getting milked and move on to the next game, only time will tell.

Who Is That Woman And Why Is She Bending Over Like That?
*ahem* As we reported last week, the cover art for Battle Cattle: The Card Game has been released to the world at large. My question is this: what’s that woman doing, exactly?

Lidda, Regdar, Mialee and Tordek are among the characters replacing Mr. Green and Ms. Peacock in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons Clue. The Archmage has been murdered, and the doors to the castle won’t let the characters leave until they determine which one of them did the foul deed. Rooms will include the Dungeon, the Armory, and the “Trap-Filled Room” (every archmage needs one of those), while weapons are things like the Vorpal Sword, Mace of Disruption, and Scroll of Fireball. If the Fireball was the weapon, I’d start with the spell-casters, personally. USAopoly, the company behind the new game, will launch the product at this year’s GenCon by running several live action sessions of D&D Clue. Ooh! Ooh! I get to be Nebin!

The massive Red Dragon Mage Knight figure (well, massive compared to other Mage Knight figures) is available starting today. There’s a good picture of the beast on the Mage Knight website. If you like what you see, you may want to grab one quickly — even at $24.95, the Wizkids Online Store is sure to run out soon, and eBay is no way to build your army.

When it Runes, it pours. Earlier today, the day after lauching our Rune RPG feature, Alex from Atlas Games let us know their plans for the first Rune adventure supplement. This August, Crouching Wizard, Smashing Hammer by Chris Aylott will reach aspiring Vikings everywhere. Here’s the details:

When the evil Red Wizard loosens his dark magicks on your village’s feasting day, your Horde is honor bound to pursue him to the ends of Midgard — all the way to Gruignir Mountain, home of a fearsome giant hungry for man flesh. Soon you will storm the Red Wizard’s keep, and he will learn how sharp your axes are!

The adventure will make use of the advanced game’s Plot Encounter rules to challenge players with interlinked adventure sections. Ice Wights, “animated corpses of Viking warriors who died lost in the cold,” will also make their debut. Gamers will get a first look at concept art from the new Halls of Valhalla expansion to the Rune computer game from Human Head Studios.

Considering all the Elmore-related promotions they’ve been running lately, is it at all surprising that Games Unplugged has a preview of next month’s SnarfQuest Card Game? Everything from individual card previews to a .pdf of the rules are available from Agents of Gaming’s new game. Larry Elmore himself will be in attendance at Origins 2001 to help AOG promote the game. Grab an autographed copy if you happen by the AOG booth.

We told you a surprise was coming. We just didn’t tell you it involved battling Loki’s minions to stave off the end of the world. That’s right, it’s our Rune RPG feature, the first of our special editorial features. We’ve got two contrasting viewpoints on Atlas Games’ new Rune RPG, including a playtest review by yours truly. There’s also a quick treatise on Viking leisure activities from our intrepid reporter, Tiffany. Finally, the feature concludes with a FREE downloadable board game, once played by the Vikings themselves (though they didn’t download it), which Demian put together. That’s right, the whole crew worked on this one, so do yourself a favor and take a look!